take a new look at news. welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we are following for you. unplugged, top technology leaders meeting today with president obama. three years after the arab spring started in tunisia, people are still working for a stable government. and from innate to college grad, we'll tell you how one prison is changing lives. ♪ some of the biggest names in technology set to visit the white house today.

the heads of apple, yahoo, twitter and at&t will be those meeting with president obama. it comes a day after the federal judge dealt a blow to one of the surveillance programs. mike viqueira is at the white house in washington, and mike is this meeting somehow related to that president. but letter was written by them

telephone surveillance program in violation of the fourth amendment, dell. >> and mike, when mightng publi

recommendations after the first of the year, dell. >> mike, thank you very much. on capitol hill the bipartisan budget deal has now cleared a major hurdle in the senate. libby casey is on cforward.

senator marie spoke before the bill hit the floor. >> this bill is a compromise. it doesn't tackle every one of the challenges we face as a nation, but that was never our goal. this bipartisan bill takes the first steps towards rebuilding our broken budget process, and hopefully towardsagainst it, in

sessions. >> the only way to fix it will be to say to senator reid and the leadership here in the senate, that let's slow down and give us a chance to have actual amendments, and fix some of the problems, and there's plenty of time to fix those problems. send the bill back to the house and be able to pass it this rolls back those sequester cuts, which means more spending. >> libby how does this budget bill watching for a handful

of republicans to jump on board with this. it only takes a few in order for it to be passed. >> thank you very much. there are reports that six soldiers were killed when their

airplane crashed in afghanistan. the taliban is claiming responsibility on its twitter account. at least 70 solders are dead following an attempted coup. >> reporter: up until now we had only heard one side of the story, that being the version given to us by the president who accused his former deputy of masterminding this aledged attempted coup. now the spokesman of mr. [ inaudible ] tells us that he does not want to comment at all on these allegations that he had attempted to stage a coup. i tried to ask him about the whereabouts about the former vice president, and he told me he was not arrested he is in juba, he is quote, fine, very fine. there are concerns because we

understand that at least five political leaders have been arrested, and the government is seeking the arrest of mr. [ inaudible ] something that could inname -- inflame tensions further. rivalry had been long-standing between the two men. political aspirations involved as well as of course the ethnic or tribal twist to it. the fact that both men come from highly competing tribes with concerns that the dinktribe where the president belongs to had been trying to dominate power. but it's not a clear-cut tension as well, because there are powerful members from the president's tribe who are supportive of the vice president. so the picture is still quite murky there.

thousands of people are at risk of going hungry in the central african republic. aid workers say the need for food has increased. the other issue is mall lairia. some feem are fleeing without the netting that is needed to protect themselves. there will be a meeting today at the hague discussing how to get rid of syria's chemical weapons stockpiles. the un planned to eliminate those weapons by mid-2014, and is now facing delays because of securery in the country. danish and norwegian ships are in cyprus ready to collect the weapons. it was three years ago that the arab spring uprising began

in tunisia. images that inspired uprising across the region. three years ago a street vendor set himself on fire after being harassed by officials. the protests over his death swept across the country. this woman is mourning her son who was arrested last month. less than an hour later the rang saying he was dead. the family say he was clearly tortured. >> they hit him on his forehead. they have no mercy. they hit people in the street, so can you imagine what it is like in the police station? >> reporter: the family are now seeking a new autopsy. they hope they will be proved right and plan to press charges against the police. al jazeera took their complaints to the minister charged with upholding the rights of victims.

>> translator: we're trying to reform the security forces. soon we'll bring in a national committee to prevent torture. and there is a bill in parliament to reduce the period interview. >> reporter: the ruling parties have agreed to make way for a caretaker government. whoever is in government in the new year faces a real challenge of unemployment particularly among young people. for young people with a degree the unemployment rate is 30%. this man has visited this job center every year. he has interviewed but is also rejected because he has no previous experience.

>> translator: after the revolution we were expecting a lot of problems to be solve, including employment. employment was the first demand behind the uprising. >> reporter: for millions, tuesday's anniversary is a reminder that the hopes of the revolution have yet to be answered. north korea holding evaporate celebrations marking two years since the death of its former leader kim jung il. the answer verry comes days after his once powerful uncle was executed charged with trying to overthrow the government there. angela merkel has been sworn in for a third term. and a new deal now bringing

ukraine a little bit closer to russia. russia offering a major reduction in goose prices to ukraine. when leaders met earlier today they agreed to a deal worth $15 billion in securities, and 33% discount in gas beginning next year. the opposition wants the ukraine to be closer to the eu. prisoners in one state doing time but they are also earning a degree.

(vo) al jazeera america we understand that every news story begins and ends with people. >> the efforts are focused on rescuing stranded residents. (vo) we pursue that story beyond the headline, past the spokesperson, to the streets. >> thousands of riot police deployed across the capitol. (vo) we put all of our global resources behind every story. >> it is a scene of utter devastation. (vo) and follow it no matter where it leads, all the way to you. al jazeera america. take a new look at news.

welcome back to al jazeera america. the united states has one of the highest incarceration rates anywhere in the weird. now a prison for women in tennessee is helping the inmates use their time earning a college degree. >> reporter: donna mccoy is serving a life sentence for first degree murder. for just a few hours she is able to swap her uniform for a cap and gown. >> i feel like i'm being redeemed. >> reporter: it was the first graduation at the prison. eight inmates received associates degrees in in liberal arts. every wednesday night for the past seven years professors have come here into the prison. teaching the women everything from history to physics.

>> i feel like i have really earned, you know, a degree. >> we were never looked down on as inmates. we were always considered as students. >> reporter: each woman had to earn 63 credit hours. >> there have been a lot of voices in their life that tell them that they don't matter, and they don't count. and now they can illustrate that they are somebody, and they can model that to their families and children. >> reporter: the program also allows traditional students to come into the prison and take classes with the inmates. bringing in outside perspectives and allowing the students inside to experience a more traditional college setting. they say the program is life-changing, pointing to studies that show higher education reduces the likelihood of exconvicts going back to prison. [ applause ] >> reporter: for antoine net hill who is locked up for the

next 30 years this is a way to give back to the community. >> this is a community. and so there are women here who will be getting out before i get out, and so now i have the tools to help them. >> reporter: why was it so important to finish this. >> to show her that even though i failed i can still pick myself back up and grow. >> reporter: the next class is set to graduate in less than two years. donna mccoy knows she may never leave prison, but she says she has found a different kind of freedom. taking a look at business moves. we could be looking at the beginning of a major change in

the form suit call industry. galaxosmithkline says it will no longer pay doctors to promote their products. and will stop giving bonuses to sales staff. the industry has an criticized for its aggressive sales tactics. and amazon.com is the winner for toy sellers. it's the second straight year that amazon beat its brick and mortar rivals. the dow losing about 35 points right now -- 38 to be exact. investors are waiting to see if the central bank will begin putting the breaks on its stimulus program. and a type of retirement

program that offers protection from the ups and downs in the market, but their one-size approach may not be right for everyone. >> reporter: target date mutual funds. >> how is this supposed to make saving for retirement easier? >> you are missing the bigger message here. simplicity. >> reporter: they have sparked a lively debate. just pick your retirement date, find a fund to match, and forget about it. >> we invest them for our target date of rerequirement. >> reporter: target date funds are generally comprised of a mix of stock and bond funds. the further away your retirement the more money you hold in stock. that's the riskier part of your portfolio.

as your retirement date grows closer. the manager guides stocks out of bonds. so if you are retiring in 2025, by the time you get there your fund may have a mix of 30% stock and 70% in cash. but before the market crash, many target date retirements had more investment in stocks. >> these funds lost almost 38% of their value in that time. >> reporter: analysts say the approach may not work for everyone. >> if you are a late starter, and you have not put enough away, you might need to take more risk, on the other hand if you have somebody who started when they were 18 years old, and

they are retiring in five years, that may be fine. >> reporter: target date funds surged in 2006. the law made them a default option for workplace plans. meaning if you don't choose your own investments you may be automatically put in a target date fund. the industry has skyrocketed and vanguard says by 2017, 55% of 401k participates will have their whole retirement date fund. >> investors are moving towards the target date or mixed asset type of fund, and i think that will continue. >> reporter: that makes it imperative that the industry continues to educate the public. coming up on al jazeera

america, a city perhaps best known for its history of violence, now taking art to the streets.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are your headlines at this hour. the heads of google, apple, and other major tech companies set to go to d.c. today to meet with the president to talk about healthcare.gov. dane initial and norwegian leaders are in cyprus ready to collect chemical weapons from syria. but there could be delays because of security issues inside syria. the watchdog group is meeting today in the hague. there are reports that six american troops were killed when their plane crashed in in afghanistan.

there were no reports of fighting, but the taliban is claiming responsibility on its twitter account. in one part of los angeles, gang violence is often an every day part of life. now the lifting of a city wide ban on street art is giving hope. this is the watts in this south los angeles most people know. 2.5 squire miles of run down neighbors and projects controlled by rival gangs. this is the other side of watts that most people don't see. street art telling the story of the city's troubled past, and hopes for the future. isabel is with the mural conservancy of l.a. >> the murals had always been indicative of social economic issues. issues of empowerment a

connecting with our roots. >> reporter: roots that extent across los angeles. but then the art stopped. >> can you imagine gray walls. are we gray walls? many we are a richly diverse city. i totally believe that murals should be part of our community. >> reporter: the city now agrees, and earlier this year lifted the ban, so now color is returning to the streets. >> you can do like the bottom piece and i can do the top. >> cool. >> reporter: the great wall of watts doesn't just represent a victory for art uses, it's a multi-cultural collaboration. >> we have an artist here who is latino, and one who is african american, and they are

traditional considered kind of enemies here. >> to me equality, unity friendship. >> reporter: the project is also bringing together students from different schools. >> latinos and blacks don't really get along, but today we are getting along. >> reporter: it took the artists about two hours to sketch out their ideas, but it will take three days and more than 100 cans of spraying paint to bring the wall to life. the hope it will help change the narrative of this neighborhood. telling all who see it of that day when the blacks and latinos worked side by side to meet in the middle. jennifer london, al jazeera, watts. i'm dave warren. we are talking about snow here in the northeast. quick moving storm out of canada, and now moving through

the great lakes and northeast. dumping a lot of snow here. that's what it looks on the radar, if you look outside you see visibility is down. building tops are coated with that snow. untreated surfaces are still pretty slippery. you might see a little improvement as it clears out of new york, by it will continue to intensify across the northeast. it will start to slow down, put on the breaks a little bit, intense a dump a little more snow over new england here. by 6:00, the evening rush hour, here is where the snow is coming down across new england. the storm is pulling a lot of moisture in. a little more snow expected here across new england. by tomorrow morning, you'll see a coating of snow on the ground from boston up through maine,

maybe just a little light snow still coming up across i-95. temperatures are above freezing, climbs into the mid- and upper 30s now. still some winter weather advisories, but a winter storm warning around boston. temperatures will climb, but it doesn't last, cold air returns by the weekend, but at least the snow clears out and get a chance to melt what is on the ground. kiss is now in the rock and roll hall of fame. 40 years after the band burst on the scene, also welcoming in nirvana and others. thank you for watching al jazeera america.

i'm del walters in new york. "inside story" is next. and you can always check us out 24 hours a day on aljazeera.com. . >> the senate is back in session with the budget still not settled. that's tonight's "inside story." >> hello, i'm ray suarez. the u.s. house is already home for the holidays, now all eyes are on senate to see this they can pass the budget deal. if they can, it will mark